Charged-particle lithography, such as ion- or electron-projection lithography, is capable of very-high-resolution patterning. Ion beam lithography uses a focused or broad beam of energetic lightweight ions for transferring pattern to a surface. Using Ion Beam Lithography (IBL) nano-scale features can be transferred on non-planar surfaces.
In charged-particle (e.g., electron, and ions such as helium, He+, neon, Ne+, and gallium, Ga+) or photon (e.g., deep ultraviolet, DUV, extreme ultraviolet, EUV, X-ray) lithography, the fundamental process mechanism involves using bond dissociation in positive resist or bond association in negative resist and resultant dissolution rate differences between the exposed and unexposed areas when developing the resist. This limits the selection of the resist materials, which are mostly polymer-based organic materials.